Mike Sampson

Just yesterday, Joss Whedon hinted he might have to send a scolding e-mail to Idris Elba who, earlier this week, let it slip that he would be appearing in 'Avengers 2' alongside Tom Hiddleston and Chris Hemsworth. But, Idris Elba just don't care. In a new interview with The Telegraph, Elba again talked about filming 'Avengers 2' and said working on Marvel movies is "torture."

For the past two weeks, there has been a deluge of 'Avengers 2' footage - clips, trailers, extended trailers, future trailers! - and we were promised one last reveal last night. While 'Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.' had the night off, ABC ran the Marvel TV special 'From Pulp to Pop,' which looked at the history of Marvel and Marvel Studios. It was mostly a rah-rah, pat-yourself-on-the-back kinda deal, but if you stuck around to the end, we not only got a look at 'Avengers 2' but also our first look at 'Ant-Man' footage.

Marvel has built their movie empire partially on anticipation and excitement among the core fanbase. Marvel has a tradition of post-credits scenes after their movies, ever since the first 'Iron Man' movie introduced Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury and name-dropped the "Avengers Initiative." It's worked out quite well for Marvel. And, while DC and Warner Bros. are very eager to catch their competitors, don't expect them to follow suit. When Warner Bros. asked Zack Snyder and Christopher Nolan to add a post-credits scene to the end of 'Man of Steel,' Nolan told them, "a real movie wouldn't do that."

Once upon a time, back in 2012, Jessica Chastain was in talks with Marvel to star in 'Iron Man 3' as scientist Maya Hansen. Chastain eventually passed on the role saying, "My schedule is jammed packed and I can’t fit anything else in." (The part would eventually go to actress Rebecca Hall.) At the time, Chastain posted to her Facebook fans, "Hopefully there’ll be another Marvel film in my future." Has that time come already?

Christian Bale has abruptly pulled out of Danny Boyle's planned Steve Jobs biopic, just two weeks after entering discussions with Sony Pictures and Boyle over playing the iconic Apple CEO. Though Bale hadn't officially signed for the part (and hadn't even begun contract negotiations), his participation was considered a near certainly and his unexpected departure is another casting blow for the project, which already had Leonardo DiCaprio turn down the starring role.

With the 'Avengers 2' trailer, extended trailer and advance trailer for 'Avengers: Infinity War', you're probably sick of all this 'Avengers' footage and don't want or need to see anymore. You certainly don't want to see this 'Avengers 2' clip with Cap and Iron Man getting heated with each other and introducing the tension that will continue through 'Captain America: Civil War'. Oh wait, you're not sick of 'Avengers 2' and you DO want to see this footage? OK, good.

There was a lot to digest out of today's major Marvel Event that saw the formal announcement of the eight films in Phase 3 including 'Black Panther' and 'Captain Marvel' spinoffs. But, with all these Avengers getting sequels and spinoffs, one has to wonder about two of the more popular characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe who are still left without their own films: Hulk and Black Widow. Despite the fact that audiences love both the characters, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige said that they have no current plans to give either character their own solo movie.

The 'Doctor Strange' casting has come full circle. After a series of stops and starts (we're looking at you, Joaquin Phoenix), Marvel has returned to one of the very first actors they had their eye on for their upcoming superhero movie: Benedict Cumberbatch. Deadline is reporting that the 'Sherlock' star is in "final negotiations" with Marvel to star in 'Doctor Strange' and, presumably, a number of other big 'Avengers' style crossover movies.

Were it not for the untimely and tragic death of Paul Walker, 'Fast and Furious 7' would have been released this past July and probably would be making its way to DVD and Blu-ray within the next few weeks. But, the release date was pushed back to April 3, 2015 and, after some lengthy reshoots, we're finally ready to see the first footage from the film next week.

The original 'Avengers 2' trailer plan was that the first footage would debut on October 28, immediately following that night's episode of 'Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.' on ABC. Not 24 hours after that announcement, a bootleg copy of the trailer leaked online. Disney and Marvel did the right thing and, instead of fighting to keep the bootlegs off the internet for a week, they pushed up the reveal and released an HD copy online. It didn't hurt the trailer (it still broke all kinds of records), but it did hurt that the planned synergy. 'Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.' was primed for a big ratings boost and the trailer leak hurt that. But, Marvel's got some new plans. Plans that will make fans happy as well as give 'S.H.I.E.L.D.' that boost it needed.

Welcome back to PopCrush 97.1

It appears that you already have an account created within our VIP network of sites on . To keep your points and personal information safe, we need to verify that it's really you. To activate your account, please confirm your password. When you have confirmed your password, you will be able to log in through Facebook on both sites.

*Please note that your points, prizes and activities will not be shared between programs within our VIP network.

Welcome back to PopCrush 97.1

It appears that you already have an account on this site associated with . To connect your existing account just click on the account activation button below. You will maintain your existing VIP profile. After you do this, you will be able to always log in to http://popcrush971.com using your original account information.